A/N: Just in case you're wondering about the rating, I had to make it NC17 due to a scene in a later chapter. Stay tuned!
3. The Note
But Hermione couldn't talk to Harry. To her surprise Harry and Charles were talking for a long time. She wasn't sure whether to feel good or bad about that. Harry's attitude hadn't changed much. She could still see that weird, sarcastic smile on his face.
Finally, to Hermione's relief the reception ended. Everybody left with the exception of the relatives that were staying in the mansion. Hermione, her parents and her Aunt Betty were staying in the guest rooms on the east wing's second floor. Charles had found a place for Harry in the little guesthouse in the garden.
Before retiring with her husband to the suite her mother-in-law had prepared for her and Charles, Sally took a quick trip to the gardens. Charles was talking to one of his uncles and she wasted no time in leaving the mansion. She wanted to find the opportunity to talk to Harry.
As if they had agreed on it, she found Harry leaning on a tree in a very isolated place, great for a private talk. Harry saw her before she reached him, but didn't move until she was a couple of steps away.
"Shouldn't you be enjoying your wedding night?" asked Harry with a sarcastic tone.
For a few minutes Sally didn't say a word as if she were practicing a little speech in her mind. Finally, she walked closer to Harry and placed one of her soft hands in his arm, gently stroking it.
"I know you're upset." Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. "But it wasn't my fault. I wanted to tell you so many times…"
"Did you? Then how is it that I found out about it from the paper?" Harry hadn't moved a muscle. He could feel Sally's warm hand on his arm and was trying to ignore the sensation her touch made him feel.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" said Harry while pointing with his hands at the big mansion. "The name, the money, the luxury…"
"No!" responded Sally quickly now placing both her hands on Harry. "I didn't, my mother was the one that…."
"Please, don't give my that shit." Harry finally pulled away from her, taking a step back, but Sally quickly moved after him.
"It's true, she pushed me to Charles. She convinced me to marry him," said Sally, speaking in an urgent voice.
"And she didn't have any trouble convincing you, did she?"
"Harry, please. Don't hate me. If you want to insult me, go ahead. Do it! Release all your anger on me. I don't care as along as you don't throw me away from you." She was trying to use all of her seduction power to convince him to keep quiet.
"What?"
"I love you Harry, you know that," she said passing a hand through his hair.
Harry could not believe what he was hearing. He took a couple of steps away trying to calm down. Sally waited for a while. Then, she walked up to him placing both her arms around Harry's neck.
"How can you expect me to believe that?" asked Harry while trying to get her arms off of him, but Sally resisted.
"I never lied when I said I loved you." Sally tried to kiss him, but Harry pulled her away.
"Then, why did you marry him?" he asked looking into her eyes, trying to find the truth.
"It's just that… I, uh"
"Okay, forget him! You say you love me, right? Let's go then. Let's get out of here right now." Harry could not believe he was saying that, but he wanted to confirm whether she did in fact love him as she said.
"What!? Leave? But, I…"
Again, a sarcastic smile spread in Harry's face. "I figured. You don't want to leave him, do you? You don't want to lose what you've already gained."
Sally looked away and didn't respond. Harry saw her for what she really was, a selfish, spoiled and materialistic woman. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen that before. Still, he felt hurt. She had played with his feelings in a cruel way.
Harry wanted to make her suffer too. If his proposition of running away scared her that much, then he'll insist on it just to see the look of fear on her face.
"Let's go Sally. Forget about Charles and come with me." He grabbed her by the elbow and tried to pull her. Just then, some voices sounded not far from them. Sally quickly pulled away from Harry's grip.
"I have to go! Please Harry, don't do anything foolish," said Sally in a whisper while starting to walk away.
"We're not done talking," added Harry just before she turned and ran towards the mansion.
---------------------------------------
Hermione got up at the crack of dawn. She hadn't been able to sleep. Harry's presence in the mansion made her fear for the worse. She knew how upset he was about Sally's marriage. She had felt the same anger a couple of months ago, but she had also been forced to move her feelings aside.
Trying to see if she could talk to Harry, Hermione walked out toward the guesthouse. She didn't want to knock and wake the other guests, so she sat on a stone bench outside the house.
She had only been sitting there for ten minutes when Harry came out. Hermione was glad to see that he looked more relaxed than the previous day. "Perhaps now he'll be willing to go," she thought.
Harry walked up to her and sat down, straddling his legs around the bench.
"I saw you from the window," said Harry. "I was expecting you."
"You were?" asked Hermione trying to read the expression on his face, but she couldn't. Not only because she couldn't tell what was going on through his mind, but also because he kept avoiding her eyes.
"You're gonna ask me to leave." There was no sign of emotion in Harry's voice. Still, Hermione could see this was not the Harry she knew. He sounded different, distant.
Harry had guessed she wanted him to leave. That was the reason she had come to see him. Hermione thought for a while how to approach him. She certainly didn't want to light up his fury again.
"There's no reason for you to stay here," she said in a soft voice, trying to keep things calm.
"Why do you defend her?" This time it was Hermione the one avoiding Harry's eyes. "Why do you want to make things easy for her after what she did to you? Or is it… Are you trying to protect Charles? Is that why you want me to go? To keep him from knowing he married a slag."
"No… I, uh…"
"Why deny it, Hermione? You think I don't know you. You're not worried about her. You're only worried about your precious Charles. You don't even care about me."
Once again, Harry's temper had exploded. He had yelled at Hermione without caring about whether his words were hurting her or not. Even when he had seemed calm, his anger had not gone away.
He wanted everybody to know how hurt and upset he was. He also felt angry with Hermione. Her cold attitude to the whole situation, when she had also been affected by it, made him even more furious. He did not understand how she could remain calm and indifferent.
Hermione stood up. She wasn't there to be yelled at. She was just trying to make the situation more bearable for everyone, but she wasn't going to take Harry's anger.
"You know what?" she said. "I don't care what you do. I don't care what happens anymore. If you want to run through the house yelling to the top of your lungs that she betrayed you, go ahead. I'm not going to stop you."
Before Harry could say anything else, she left.
---------------------------------------
All morning, everyone in the mansion had been busy getting everything ready for the luncheon, the last festivity to celebrate the happy union.
Harry had wondered around trying to find a moment to talk to Sally, but she hadn't been alone all morning. Harry suspected she was purposely avoiding being alone so that he couldn't get close to her.
At noon, everyone gathered at the side gardens, which were decorated with a beautiful fountain, for the luncheon. A big white canopy was put up. Under its shade, several round tables were placed, though not nearly as many as during the reception, but enough to accommodate about fifty people.
Harry was sitting at Hermione's table, mainly because he wouldn't have felt comfortable anywhere else, but he remained silent most of the time and talked to Hermione only when it was necessary.
Hermione's parents and Sally's mum were also at the same table. Mr. and Mrs. Granger had been pleasantly surprised to see Harry. They hold their daughter's friend in high esteem.
After everyone had enjoyed the fabulous buffet, the newlyweds presented some thank you gifts to their bridesmaids, the flower girl, the ring bearer, the best man, and a couple of other people that had helped to organize the wedding.
When Sally asked for Hermione to come and collect her present, Hermione remained seated for a few seconds.
"Come on sweetie, Sally's calling you," pressed her Aunt. Hermione took a quick look to Harry only to find his sarcastic smile. Finally, she stood up and walked to the place where Charles and Sally were waiting for her.
Sally resembled the image of the happy bride who just married the love of her life. Nobody could've guessed what was going on between the two cousins.
"I just want everyone to know that without Hermione's love and support, I wouldn't have been able to make it through," said Sally to everyone. "She's the sister I never had." Right after that, she hugged Hermione and gave her a tiny black box containing a set of diamond earrings.
Charles also hugged Hermione and thanked her for being such a good friend. Harry, whose ironic grin hadn't disappeared from his face, watched the whole scene closely.
About an hour later, the group started to dissolve. Some of the couple's relatives were starting to get ready to leave. Hermione's parents were among them. They were supposed to attend a conference. Instead of going back to London, they'd be heading to Sweden, where the conference was to take place.
Hermione was to leave the next morning and return to London by train. Aunt Betty had asked if she could come along with Hermione. She hated to travel alone.
The moment Harry had been waiting for all morning finally arrived. Sally was still in the gardens, but she was alone and far enough away to be out of anybody's hearing range. He walked up to her. Sally froze as soon as she saw him coming.
"May I congratulate the bride?" asked Harry, mock on his voice.
"Sure," said Sally standing up.
Harry gave her a socially acceptable hug and extended his hand to shake hers. Sally shook it.
"I hope you'll be really happy." Then getting a little close to her, he added in a whisper, "I'll make sure of that."
He then let go of her hand. At that time she realized Harry had left a note in her hand, but before she could say anything to him, he was gone.
"Sally!" called Sally's mum. "Come say good bye to your aunt and uncle." Sally quickly hid the note inside her clothes.
-----------------------------------------
It wasn't until almost one hour later that Sally got a chance to read Harry's note. She was in her private bathroom, the only place where she was left alone. With trembling hands, she took the piece of paper and read it.
We're leaving tonight. I'll be waiting for you at midnight by the garden shed.
Don't make me wait. If you don't come, I'll go and find you.
I'm not leaving without you!
Harry
Sally's hands started sweating. "He must be insane," she thought. "I can't have this. I'm not going to let this idiot ruin what I've worked so hard for." The hand that was holding the note tightened, to then drop it to the floor.
Sally immediately walked out of the room and decided to go look for Harry. She wanted to talk to him and make him see that she wasn't going to do things his way. Without stopping, Sally went straight to the guesthouse.
Harry, however, was not there. Feeling frustrated, Sally started looking for him in the gardens. After Sally had been looking for fifteen minutes, she saw one of the guards and asked him for Harry. The guard told Sally Harry had left more than an hour ago.
"Are you sure it was him?" asked Sally not believing that Harry had left that easily.
"Yes Miss, I saw him walking out to the road. He hasn't come back since."
------------------------------------
Hermione was in the room she had been assigned to, which she had shared with Erica Seaver, a friend of Sally that had also been a bridesmaid. Erica was gone by now. Suddenly the door burst open and Sally came into the room.
"So, is it true?" demanded to know Sally.
"What's true?"
"Is it true that Harry left?" asked Sally coming to where Hermione was standing. "Did he say anything to you?"
Hermione looked surprised. "Well, he didn't talk to me, but how do you know he left?" She had hoped all day that Harry would finally come to his senses and leave. Hermione was glad to hear he had finally done so.
"One of the guards told me. He said he saw Harry walking out." Then a thought came to Sally's head. "You think he just went for a walk? He went walking! How far can he get walking?"
Hermione smiled. Sally had obviously no idea how far you could get with magic. "That's no problem for him."
"What do you mean?" asked Sally. Then realization came to her. "Oh! He's… he's like you, isn't he?"
Hermione sat down in the edge of the bed, not responding to Sally's question. "I'm glad he left. I was afraid he might do something stupid."
Sally was very glad too, but she still felt a little anxious. She just couldn't accept that Harry would've left like that, especially after the note. Sally knew she wasn't going to relax until she and Charles would be in their way to their honeymoon, which wasn't until the next day.